WWE news and notes: 3-28-13

It appears that The Undertaker‘s return for his annual Wrestlemania match may not be his last appearance for the year, unlike in years past. Currently, “The Dead Man” is scheduled for the April 23rd Smackdown taping in London, England. The 02 Arena in London posted the following message on their website:

The Undertaker returns! It’s official, WWE SmackDown on 23 April will feature one of the greatest WWE Superstars of all time, The Undertaker, in a London exclusive not to be missed. See The Phenom live for the first time in over four years.

Speaking of the upcoming UK tour, Chris Jericho is being reported for the show, despite the fact that his band Fozzy is touring at the same time. As it turns out, Jericho will be appearing on the RAW taping on April 22nd, then officially begin the tour with the band the next night. So, as of now, it appears that Jericho will be continuing with WWE for at least a little while longer before going on his next hiatus, whenever that may be.

It was recently revealed that current WWE Champion The Rock‘s grandfather, Hall of Famer (Class of 2008) “High Chief” Peter Maivia, dabbled in acting during his life. Maivia was discovered as having a featured role as a villain in the James Bond film, You Only Live Twice. Looks like both acting AND wrestling run in the family bloodline.

Former WWE star and current Legends contract holder Kevin Nash was recently interviewed by The Baltimore Sun about his time in the sport, and because Wrestlemania is around the corner, was specifically asked about “The Streak”. Nash had the following to say:

It’s funny because I didn’t believe that there was truly anything special when I wrestled ‘Taker at the time. There was no inkling of a streak or anything. The guys like me that are earlier in the streak are just lucky to be part of the streak. Now it’s such a big thing, and one of the really special things in the business. I really don’t think the streak is ever going to end, and if it was up to me, I wouldn’t ever have it end.

It has officially been announced that current WWE Hall of Fame inductee Bob Backlund will be inducted by the co-host of the celebrity gossip show Extra!, Maria Menounos. Some fans are upset about this, as they feel it’s simply a way for WWE to get some mainstream publicity, but the fact is that not only Menounos has participated in WWE events before, including WrestleMania, but is reportedly a lifelong wrestling fan. Furthermore, she met Backlund several years ago while working on the former MTV dating game-type show, Singled Out. Menounos and Backlund hit it off right away, and have been close friends ever since, even working on several projects together.